PAINTINGS ONLINE | ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY

Stable interior

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The work was previously acquired at the Sotheby's auction in Milan on 10/12/2007. It was exhibited in 1991 in the exhibition "Giovanni Sottocornola. Images from a collection" held in Milan at the Silbernagl Gallery. After an initial pictorial phase dedicated to portraits and still lifes, in the 1880s Giovanni Sottocornola approached social themes, which were becoming the favorite subjects of young Lombard painters attentive to the poorest aspects of society, linked to the adoption of original artistic techniques. Sottocornola embraced the practice of pointillist painting, of which he wrote in 1895 "For now it is certain, I am convinced that there is no other painting more capable of conveying certain sensations than this one". However, this type of painting remained entirely focused on light, on its uncertain tonal vibrations, as happens in the Interior of a stable, created towards the end of the 1980s, where the plays of light and shadow play and create the effects visual in the brushstrokes of color played on a few chromatic ranges, those of browns, expressed in a wide variety of shades. The work is presented in a period frame.

Landscape with River Glimpse 1906

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The Roman-born artist Cesare Maggi established himself as a pointillist landscape painter, portraying alpine landscapes in the Engadine and Aosta Valley, often enlivened by the inclusion of figures and animals. Becoming a friend of the painter Giacomo Grosso in Turin in 1901, he then successfully oriented himself towards the portrait genre, setting aside the pointillist technique. While still favoring high mountain views, he broadened his subjects by also engaging in seascapes and still lifes. In this work, still from the first period, Maggi portrays a glimpse of the countryside crossed by a calm river, bordered by rows of bare trees and small grassy hills, behind which the farmhouses overlook: already no longer linked to the techniques divisionist, the work is rather characterized by dense and opaque mixtures of color, in which the earth, the water and the farmhouses are superimposed in a continuum broken only by the band of sky above. The work is presented in a period frame.

The path of San Rocco (Camogli)

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower left. On the back this title in pencil. An extremely original landscape painter who experimented with oil painting but also with watercolors and engraving, Raul Viviani came very close to pointillist painting, however developing his own personal technique, characterized by very thin filaments of color in the shape of thin commas, which define the structures of his landscapes. With his transfer to Liguria, which made the landscape of that region the protagonist of his works, his technique changed, moving away from the original divisionism to open up to a broad and summary brushstroke, which finally resulted in the last period in a production of nature death with violent and contrasting colors. This landscape can also be placed in the Ligurian period, which offers a glimpse of a well-known Ligurian locality, still rendered in the characteristic style of Viviani, made of brushstrokes in thin filaments, superimposed on spots of lively color, in the chromatic ranges of the colors of nature. In frame.

Oil on copper. Flemish school of the seventeenth century. The painting, attributed by oral tradition to Frans Francken the younger (1581 -1642), depicts a miraculous healing performed by Jesus: while he goes with his disciples, he meets on his way a sick man, probably with leprosy, a disease that involved isolation and banishment from the city; the man invokes Christ who performs the miracle and heals him. The painting places the event on the left edge of the scene, in the foreground, where the figures dressed according to the typical style of the times of Christ stand out for their bright colours; moreover, the landscape that fills the rest of the scene is decidedly Nordic, with a river full of water flowing in a countryside full of vegetation, and a city in the background under mountain peaks. The pictorial description of the vegetation is meticulous and precise, rich and well defined in the details: the broken trunk in the foreground, the fronds of the large tree behind the characters, the birds flying high in the sky, the small flowers on the shore, the nuances of the The water in which plants and clouds are reflected are painted with a pictorial refinement typical of Flemish painting, similar in style to that of the great Antwerp artist. The painting is presented in a repurposed antique frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Northern European school of the 19th century. Family portrait of three girls, whose marked resemblance in facial features, smile and witty and mischievous gaze, is underlined by the almost identical clothes they wear, whose bright colors enliven the scene and on which the laces of the necklines stand out, exquisitely painted; the youngest in the center, still a child, has a slightly less worked dress and a less elaborate hairstyle, in keeping with her age. The painting is presented in a late 19th century frame that has been adapted and regilded.

Oil painting on canvas. Of a bucolic and serene flavor, the scene set in the countryside on the edge of the village that can be glimpsed on the left, sees a woman and her son who, near a stream, await the shepherd with his flock with a lunch basket . Restored and relined, the painting is presented in an antique frame.

Oil on canvas. Northern Italy school. The depiction of the Nativity is seen here as a contemplative moment of the Holy Child, by Mary and Joseph, accompanied by little angels. The pictorial ways resume those of widely replicated models, starting from Correggio, from Barocci, to arrive at the numerous versions of Gherardo delle notte, or the Flemish painter Gerard Von Honthorst, representative of tenebrism, a pictorial current that played on strong contrasts of darkness and light, light and dark. In this work too, the light radiated by the Baby Jesus illuminates the figures around him and makes them emerge from the surrounding darkness. The restored and relined work is presented in a 19th century frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the eighteenth century. Rich composition with basin full of variegated flowers, fruit bowl with peaches, a cut pumpkin and a goldfinch that picks grains from the bunch of grapes placed on the table. It is part of that vast production of composite still lifes which in the eighteenth century, deprived of any allegorical or symbolic meaning, was purely aimed at a decorative purpose; he took up multiple, composite, lively inanimate objects, often flanked by a living element, an animal like the goldfinch in this work, which maintained the link with life and everyday life. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Copy from Guido Reni

Oil painting on canvas. The work is one of the numerous replicas, with some variations, of the famous subject created by the famous Bolognese painter Guido Reni (1574 -1642) and his workshop. The composition, which sees the Virgin in prayer bent to adore the sleeping Child, is considered an invention of the brilliant vein of Reni, which, following the great success among collectors of the time, was then taken up by other authors of the seventeenth century, among which the name of Giovan Battista Salvi known as "Il Sassoferrato" stands out. The two most famous variants of this fascinating scene see the Virgin with her hands joined in prayer, adopted by Salvi, or the one with her hands on her chest, like this one, typically by Reni. Other variations concern the position of the head of the sleeping Christ Child, turned upwards as in this version, rather than reclining to one side; finally the background fabrics change. However, even in this replica the intensity of the scene stands out: it is transversely occupied by the body abandoned in repose of the child, where the divine nature is subject to the human one in sleep; above it, inclined in a protective and at the same time contemplative gesture, the body of Mary, which expresses all the maternal tenderness but also, in the gesture of the hands, the adoration of the incarnate mystery represented by the little son. The lively colors of the fabrics - the pillow on which Jesus is laid, the curtain behind it, the Mother's clothes - bring out the brightness of the flesh tones. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a late 19th century frame.

Oil on canvas, applied on hardboard in the second half of the 1900s. The painting takes up the pictorial ways of the eighteenth century, with a decorative cut. In a peaceful landscape, with an architectural structure on the right and the green valley with the river opening on the left, two figures walk along the path, a woman with her bundle of clothes and the wayfarer with a saddlebag and a stick. The work is presented in a chronicle style.

Oil on wooden board. The painting pictorially reproduces the famous sculpture by Michelangelo, the Pietà of San Pietro or Pietà Vaticana. The composition of the figures is quite faithful to the reference work, but, as well as being painted in colour, it is placed in an open-air setting that refers to Renaissance painting, with the hill of Calvary emerging in shadow on the left. A coat of arms is painted at the bottom left, evoking a noble patronage. The work is presented in a period frame. It has several spots and small drops of color.

Oil painting on canvas. The scene depicts a chamber concert: in the centre, the spinet player, behind him the recorder player and on the right side the maestro who conducts, who listens intently and moves his right hand to accompany the musical movements; behind the trio, ladies and gentlemen listen smiling and participating. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a 19th century frame.

Lombardo-Veneto

Sculpture in linden wood, painted in polychrome and depicting Saint Paschal Baylon (1540-1592) in adoration of the Eucharist, which he holds in his left hand in a monstrance now without the sunburst case. Recognizable, as well as for the typical attitude of his iconography, also for the Franciscan habit and beardless face. The proclamation to Blessed in 1618 constitutes a post quem term for the realization of the sculpture, confirmation also given by the stylistic code of the carving, in particular by the thick locks of hair, the fleshy mouth and the heavy eyelids, characteristics of the sculpture of the first half of the Six hundred.

Oil painting on canvas. The painting has the artist's name (Giovani Piana) and the date of creation 1616 at the top. It depicts Saint Simon holding a book and a saw in his hand, his iconographic attribute which would indicate the martyrdom he suffered. Restored and relined, the painting shows traces of the restoration along the margins.

The miracle of Soriano

Oil painting on canvas. The canvas recounts the miracle of Soriano: in this village of Calabria, the Madonna with Mary Magdalene (recognizable by the ointment jar) and Catherine of Alexandria (carrying the palm of martyrdom), would appear in 1530 to a young Dominican, to give him an image of San Domenico to be placed in the convent he built. A beautiful version of the painting is that of Grechetto, from 1654-1655, preserved in Genoa: ours seems to be inspired by this work, which re-proposes the tense composition of the figures. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period frame.

Interior scene

Oil painting on canvas. Not signed, but on the back there is a dedication "Alla signora Clelia Mazzioli, con stima Gaetano Bellei 23 gennaio 1909". The big scene, set in a popular kitchen, sees a woman reading cards to two girls, who ask for explanations by pointing to the figures that appear and seem to compare them with a text leaning on the chair. The work recalls the painting of Gaetano Bellei, due to the strong realism with which the painter painted above all scenes of daily peasant life; he is considered a master of the depiction of human affections and of human reactions and sensations. The painting has slight drops of color. It is proposed in a stylish frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The biblical episode depicted refers to the story of Daniel, the prophet in the court of King Darius the Mede who, for having prayed to his God, was condemned to be thrown into the lions' den. But God saved Daniel, sending an angel to close the jaws of the beasts, and the king pardoned Daniel by instead condemning those who had denounced him. The subject has been depicted several times in art, for the fascination linked to history but also for its exotic flavor due to the presence of wild beasts; in particular we remember the version by Rubens of 1615, where the prophet is depicted naked in the underground pit, while he prays ardently, surrounded by a crowd of ferocious lions. The work presented here instead proposes a version centered on the dialogue between the prophet and the angel, who face each other, standing out with the vivid colors of their robes against the dark background of a prison; there is only one lion, meekly crouching at the angel's feet, and therefore the spiritual and salvific dimension of the biblical event prevails. According to the famous art historian Maurizio Marini, a specialist in the painting of Caravaggio and Baroque art, who had had the opportunity to view the painting years ago, the work could be attributable to Antonio Maria Vassallo (1620 -1664) for the compositional and chromatic choices. The painting, restored and relined, is presented with a listello frame.

Figure in Rest 1969

Pen on paper. Signed lower right. Accompanied by photo authentication from the Mario Tozzi Archive. In Maestro Tozzi's extensive production there are many drawings, such as this one presented here, made with different techniques (ink, pastel, pencil, sanguine), dedicated to the human figure: in his dry and stylized style, Mario Tozzi outlines stylized, refined figurines in their silent and discreet geometry, favored by the absence of color, which brings out the forms on the white paper. Even in his pictorial production, Mario Tozzi's favorite subjects are, classically, figures and still lifes, but both figures and death are a set of solid geometric elements, the sphere, the cylinder, the cone, etc. The bodies are elementary, essential in the lines and details, powerful, statuesque, composed of just modeled solids, while the still lifes are a celebration of Euclidean geometry such as the jugs, bowls, flasks which are paradigms of volume and geometric rigor . Mario Tozzi's compositions are influenced by Cubism for certain cuts, by Metaphysics for certain architectural insertions and by Abstractism for the insertion of geometric figures. The work is presented in a frame.

Oil painting on canvas. Italian school of the eighteenth century. In the portrait of this gentleman, the dressing gown made of an elegant floral fabric stands out in particular, in shades of brick red that recall the color of the wig. The severity of the pose and the austere gaze of the character almost contrast with the almost frivolous elegance of his clothing. The painting, restored and relined, is presented in a frame from the early 1900s.

Oil painting on canvas. The mythological subject that portrays together the two divinities, symbol of profane love, has been amply illustrated in art: as in this work, Venus is usually depicted in a languid attitude, while exhibiting her naked Beauty; Cupid, dressed as a winged putto, is intent on extracting from the quiver one of his darts which induce falling in love, one of which is already stuck in the trunk behind the goddess. In the background an Italian landscape, with a small architectural structure. The shape of the painting refers to an original shaped frame. Restored and relined, the painting is currently presented in a period frame.